Law, Ethics & News Literacy
Law, Ethics & News Literacy is the backbone of scholastic journalism. I have prioritized taking classes at national conventions regarding ethics and law to better understand my rights as a student journalist. Without understanding what the law gives us the ability to do or what ethical standards make us consider what we should do, it is almost impossible to report and act responsibly as a student journalist.
Experiences at the Freedom Forum
Reviewing HHS Media's Editorial Policy
When I took over as EIC I realized my staff had not been over the editorial policy for the past four years. Though it was a daunting 51 pages, I read and edited the majority of it. In the summer of 2023 I had my editorial board do the same. This year we are more familiar with our editorial policy than ever before.
This year marks 100 years of the Journalism Education Association
Scholastic Journalism Week
Why I'm here to stay.
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SJW: 2024 Plan
Scholastic Journalism Week is the best opportunity we have as student journalists to highlight where we have been, where we are going and why it's important we're here. I began planning for SJW 2024 in early January. Because it's the 100th year of the Journalism Education Association I want to make it the best year yet. I came up with a multi-pronged approach.
1. Next year's four Editor in Chiefs and I will each take one day of the week to plan. Each of them must submit a write up of their plan to me for approval so we can have conversations about what materials may be needed.
2. Three things must be included in each day of planning.
- A carousel social media post on one of the most important court cases in setting legal precedent for student journalist (ex. Tinker, Hazelwood, Utica, Fraser, etc.)
- One activity in class (ex. journalism quiz, cupcakes with First Amendment words and recitation, etc.
- One activity of choice (ex. additional social media posts, bringing baked goods in, First Amendment coloring pages, etc.)
In addition to the this three activity approach, there are a couple of activities I want to do for the staff on my own.
1. Create illustrated info videos of the Tinker and Hazelwood cases explained.
2. Create broadcast video on HHS Media SJW.
3. Get Kevin Goldberg, Freedom Forum contact to speak to our editorial over zoom regarding First Amendment press rights.
Our week was a success! Our students enjoyed the many cupcakes we brought in, but they also enjoyed the mini lessons. One of the biggest things we wanted to stress was that this week is not just a learning week, but a week of celebration! We gave out certificates to outstanding staffers and prizes for those that won the kahoot and quiz games we played.
Work with Quill and Scroll
In addition to leading my own staff through Scholastic Journalism Week, I am also leading the efforts for the Quill & Scroll International Honor Society as the activities leader on the Student Advisory Board. JEA is doing lists of 100 things in its centennial year, so I had the idea to gather 100 quotes from student journalists about why they are "here to stay." See the questions and the form we developed on the left. The answers will be posted on the Q&S website during SJW.
SJW: 2023
The first thing we wanted to do last year was thank our administrators for their support of our program during SJW. We created gift baskets and I woke up at 5 a.m. to hand them out to the staff with coffee and donuts!
One of our major strategies in helping our staffers to understand the importance of the First Amendment is baked goods. Last year our first year students brought in baked goods from home and we placed the words of the First Amendment on them. We offered extra credit to any student who would bring in the goods or recite the First Amendment to post on all our social media platforms. We took the baked goods to government classes to speak to them about the importance of the First Amendment and what it means for student journalists.
In the past we have also created informational graphics to explain court rulings like Tinker or Hazelwood. It is very important that not only our staff understands the legal precedent of the case, but also for our school to understand. HHS Media is established as a public forum and it makes a difference in our reporting when our students know this.
Working with administration for stronger media
My staff is incredibly privileged to have a strong relationship with our administration. This relationship allows us to have more open communication to avoid any possibility of censorship. When I stepped in, the administration was already supportive of the program; however, I have formed incredibly close relationships with many of the administration members and I feel the support has only increased during my leadership.
Superintendent: I will have presented with the HCPS Superintendent Dr. Michael Richards three times after the JEA/NSPA Kansas City convention, regarding forming close bonds with administration to avoid censorship (see below). Additionally, I meet with Dr. Richards around once a month to allow for open communication and oftentimes interviews.
Principal: I also have a monthly standing meeting with my high school principal, Dr. Melissa Hensley. She has been a great source over the past few years and it has definitely strengthened my reporting to have the administration perspective in addition to student perspectives in stories. You can see stories I have written with a focus on the administrative team on the right.
My efforts have also led me to be covered in many local media outlet stories. Click to read the stories below.
I also created this write up for Quill and Scroll chapters across the nation on working with administration for stronger media.
First Amendment Press Freedom Award
We won the First Amendment Press Freedom Award in 2022 for the first time since I have been on staff. This award is given to a select number of schools every year for a school's work in honoring and supporting the First Amendment through their student media. I recently filled out the application to apply for the award this year as well.
Working through the application allowed me to confirm my publication's rights as an established public forum and what we can and cannot publish. Additionally, administration has never told us "no" on a story and we have no policy of prior review.
We ended up being one of 28 schools to receive the award again this year. Winning the award reaffirmed our staff's work in fighting censorship and promoting the First Amendment in and outside of the classroom.
Below you will see some stories of our staff being highlighted by local media for our work and our FAPFA win.
Promoting News Literacy in the classroom
This summer I led my staff through two days of law and ethics training. Seen to the left are my notes regarding influential court cases in student press rights. I started by explaining the case summaries of Tinker, Hazelwood, and Bethel v. Fraser, and then had my staff take a quiz. We also went through this SPLC handout and determined our staff falls under the Tinker standard with censorship likely permitted.
To the left you will see my notes for the ethical case studies I led my staff through. I gave them three options in each situation, questions that the real publications considered when deciding what to do in the situation. We had some great conversations about the ethical standards in scholastic journalism. After the discussion, my staff chose what they felt was the best option in each situation. They were surprised to see what the Rolling Stone and LA Times chose to publish in real life. With the bomber issue, we believed the Rolling Stone's decision glorified the Bomber, a drastic mistake on their part. With the LA Times photographer who unlawfully edited two photos together, we believed the edited photo falsely created tension for the viewers.
Navigating Anonymous Sources
As a junior I made the decision to publish a story on Suicide Awareness Month with anonymous sources. When making the decision, I first reviewed our editorial policy and then considered the ethical concerns. Without publishing the names, the integrity of the story did not change. However, if I had published the names, the students would have been put in a vulnerable spot, one they were not totally comfortable with. I decided using anonymous sources was the best decision.
Navigating Ethical Concerns
My school has suffered a number of devastating student deaths over my past four years on staff. We had a difficult time deciding how to cover these situations in the most respectful and considerate way possible. After the tragic loss of a student in an act of gun violence last year, we reviewed our editorial policy of covering death, and then worked through the SPJ Code of Ethics. We decided that any sort of story coverage or package would be too raw for our staff. We had many discussions regarding the "minimize harm" clause in the Code of Ethics. We decided publishing a story or trying to get interviews would cause more emotional harm than good and decided to cover the death only to the extent which our policy guided us to.